Testimonials for the Octaband™"Allow me to act as your infomercial! I purchased this item last week - it arrived in 4 days. It's FANTASTIC. I work in geri-psych with patients with severe dementia and it was such a hit. Patients of all levels enjoyed. The loops at the end of the ribbons for attachment to the wrists are brilliant - allows less aware patients to participate passively, feeling the movement / rhythm through the fabric. THEN I used with my other group of adult psych patients and discovered many other explorations on more ambulatory and metaphorical levels. THEN I used it with another high functioning elderly group to whom I teach fitness... and they had a BLAST!'Fantastico" proclaimed one elderly Mexican man, repeatedly, between bursts of laughter and breath - "teacher, we have never done this before!' And anyone working with the elderly - you should definitely acquire this - you'll have so much
fun!!!” I have put my little turtle bean bags (6) on top of the center circle... and I got a completely different response, directed by them, than when I had put the turtles on the parachute. Instead of trying vigurously to get the turtles off, as they did with the parachute, the clients instead as a group worked together to keep the turtles on... which allowed for a different and more expanded movement range, as well as giving the group a central focus and using team effort, which I do not usually see. This same reaction to the turtles with the octaband happened on both the traditional and dementia programs. One particular client, who is typically the only man in the group... a sweet man, very quiet, and often sitting with his head falling forward and his eyes looking down. Many of the other clients in the groups often forget he is there... each time we used the Octaband,... he pulls on his strip, wrapping it around his arm, pulling strongly until the center circle is almost in his lap. The Octaband provided a way for him to communicate nonverbally his needs to be connected to the group, to be seen, and to receive attention... He was pulling us into his world, into his space, and the Octaband provided an avenue for him to do that through, which was great! Thank you for your inspiration, and for taking the time and effort to create the Octaband, I feel that it is a great prop for... many populations!
- Joyce Wolpert, Dance / Movement Therapist, Virginia  “So many different clients have been enjoying (the octaband). I initially got it for yoga / movement therapy classes I teach to developmentally delayed adults. It helps unify the group and gives them a sense of moving as a unit, as in walking in a circle, first in one direction and then the other. Because the prop was new to me, I also shared it with my adult yoga classes, just to see what they would do with it, and THEY LOVED IT! We placed a bean bag in the center and then as a group tried to bounce it up in the air and catch it, adapting as a group to how we need to move so it wouldn't fall on the floor. Then they came up with all kinds of wonderful stretches, using feet, legs, heads. The prop is quite versatile for all kinds of groups. I also used it with a private DMT client - a child and her parent, the child being under the center of the band, and the parent and I moving it up and down over her. The child loved it. - Vitalah Simon Dance / Movement Therapist, New York
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motor planning, strength and endurance. Students of varying ages,
cognitive levels and physical abilities can participate and most of all... have fun... one particular
student who is shy and doesn't typically participate in our gross motor group activities without
continuous prompting, etc... loves the Octaband. He is a 4 year old little boy with a cortical
vision impairment and developmental delays. It is the one activity that he really enjoys. We tried
the "mine"/ "ours" game this week and it was a big hit.”
towards the end when 2 clients were remaining. The two held half of the
ropes on one end, while I held the rest on the other. Together we started swinging it like a jump
rope. This brought so much stimulation for both the participants and the observers who were
still very engaged. One of the clients started singing old songs she used to sing jumping rope as a
little girl. This was very poignant as the theme of the group was about reminiscing through
movement. Although I was getting tired, the 2 clients kept the swinging action going and
verbalizing their enjoyment...
(initiated) a movement with the band while group members mirrored. We went around
as if it was a choreographed dance. The elderly in the group (some sitting, some standing) really
felt that they were jammin' to the Motown hits by simply being connected to the bands and doing
this group dance!! It was great!!
good-bye. They also like being
connected and having handles to hold onto... The connection to the handles made the dance a
group dance even if everyone wasn't moving the same way.
came out of spontaneity, not from how I
presented it, but how my students chose to use it. It was a creative movement class for women’s
studies. The women ranged from ages 28 to 60+. The women were very anxious about moving
and dancing, even though they all wanted to. They had many body issues and they were simply
uncomfortable working without some sort of prop to not only offer them support but for them to
offer each other support and of course it was the group format which your octaband really is
wonderful for. 
going up, they would use the lower level, then they would move on top of it,
holding onto it as if it was a web. They would move underneath it, holding onto it. . . In fact it
was somewhat like a Mayday sort of pole. Evokes creativity, joy, playfulness, laughter... It also
was visually very pleasing, decorative and also very theatrical. It not only offered a way for them
to connect, but also gave them an opportunity to separate out and to be individual and be very
colorful... when they worked separately. And they were also supported by the octaband to be
creative. It was a wonderful opportunity for them and for me, and I loved it and I wanted to thank
you for that.”